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Strategic Air Command display coming to 2013 SCORE camps

First day of each camp to be dedicated to ‘Space Academy’

By Jan SchultzThe Imperial Republican Students attending next summer’s Science Camps Offer Rewarding Experiences (SCORE) camps will be in for a treat, according to Director Marla Smith of Imperial. The Strategic Air & Space Museum in Ashland, Neb., will be sending many of its exiting pieces and programs to the camps scheduled for June 10-14 in and around Imperial. Camps, each lasting three days, will be split into sections for grades 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6 and spread over the week in mid-June. Camp dates are: Grades 1-2—June 10, 11, 12 Grades 3-4—June 12, 13, 14 Grades 5-6—June 11, 12 13 Students should register for the grade they are in this year (2012-13). Daily camp time is 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The 2013 camp theme is “Try-Science,” and its curriculum will include hands-on activities in life, earth and the physical sciences, with emphasis on the earth sciences, Smith said. The first full day of each camp will be dedicated to the strategic Air & Space Museum activities. Special features will include a mobile planetarium, multi-axis trainer, giant shuttle model slide, earth balloons and solar telescopes, robotics, an unmanned hot air balloon launch, Astronaut 101 and rocketry. Ken Schroeder, who many SCORE campers know from the Edgerton Explorit Center in Aurora, is now deputy director at the museum, joining the museum staff in late summer. Smith noted that some of the museum’s events will be open to the public during the daytime camps, and plans are to have an evening display for the public, as well. The first day of each grade-level camp will be held at Chase County Schools and dedicated to a “Space Academy.” Another main event for students in the grade 1-2 and 3-4 camps will be presentations by the Riverside Zoo from Scottsbluff. Staff will be bringing many of their animal “friends” to the camps on June 12 and 13, Smith said. Smith, along with assistants Kim Spady and Charlesa Kline, are busy making plans for additional activities for the camps. SCORE camps will celebrate their 15th year in 2013, thanks to support from the community and hundreds of volunteers, Smith noted. In helping to finance the camps, SCORE has again gained grants from the Upper Republican NRD, as well as major donations from Chase County keno funds, the H.B. Heuermann Foundation and an anonymous donor. As of Dec. 1, donations have been received from 35 businesses, 10 organizations and 16 individuals. Tuition pays for about half of the camp costs, Smith noted, with the rest coming from grants and donations. Gifts are tax deductible. Other ways people can contribute include scholarships for students, in-kind donations, providing food and lodging next June, teaching and volunteering at the camps. Camp cost in 2013 will be $100 per student no matter where they live, Smith noted. That is a change from previous camps when out-of-area campers were charged a higher fee. Smith and Sue Renken founded the camps in 1989 and, over the years, formats have changed. Some years, the camps have exceeded 300 participants. More information is on the website: www.scorecamp.com, which is being updated and is expected to be activated late this week. Registrations are now being taken. Smith can be contacted with questions at 308-882-4859, or by email:
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